Everything's Gonna Be Alright (Parvati)

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She was out. It didn't matter how many times Anna told herself that she made it through the maze, how many people congratulated her and told her she did well, she could hardly believe it was over. She didn't need to worry about her next turn and what she would run into, didn't need to be constantly on her toes. She wasn't fighting for her life anymore. Granted, she hadn't had as hard a time of it as Elias did, and she was grateful for that. She wanted to know what happened to him, why she looked so terrible, but she figured that she would find out soon enough. 

Right now there were only a few people she really wanted to be with. Oscar, of course, Uncle Harry, and Madam Macmillan. Really, she wouldn't mind being around her friends also, but she figured she wouldn't see them for a while. They would want to find her when they could actually talk with her, which surely wouldn't happen in this crowd. Honestly she probably wouldn't find Oscar here, or even Uncle Harry. Which was why she was looking for Madam Macmillan. She already ran into Lucy, but she needed the older woman's assurances that she'd done well. Also, she kind of wanted a hug, though she didn't know if that was allowed. 

Her eyes scanned the crowd of people gathered around to congratulate the three champions. Where was she? Finally she saw her mentor, not too far away. Anna made her way over to Madam Macmillan as quickly as she could, wanting to reach her before she disappeared somewhere. As she approached, Anna shrugged- though she was sure she still looked like death almost. "So ....?" She made the word a question, hoping that she wouldn't have to elaborate. Honestly she didn't know how to elaborate on that.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

As a judge, she was supposed to remain impartial, but Parvati could not have been any more proud to see Anna Weasley exit the maze right after Émile Chevalier. She had nearly come in first place, although second was hardly shabby: Both Émile and Anna had finished far ahead of Elias Greyback.

The task came to an end, and it seemed to Parvati as though she was never going to get an opportunity to congratulate her own mentee. Having her identical twin in such a significant role in the Triwizard Tournament as well meant that Parvati knew to expect some confusion. She wasn't Padma, and—between the spectators who had mixed up the two of them and the various others who needed to speak with her—it was some time before Parvati was able to free herself.

Anna approached her first. She was battered, and her clothing was torn in places. If she hadn't seen Caroline Blacksmith yet, Parvati thought that that probably needed to be her next stop. Getting a little bit of mud or blood on her robes was the last of her concerns, however. “So…?”

“‘So?’” Parvati beamed, hurrying over to Anna and hugging her as excitedly as her voice had conveyed. She made a conscious effort not to hurt her any more than she was already, but she was thrilled. “You did so well! Oh, I'm so proud of you!” she gushed, then pulled away from the hug to take a look at Anna. “How're you feeling?”

@annelise

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Madam Macmillan was grinning at her and Anna couldn't stop the wide smile that covered her face as she saw her mentor. Before she knew it she was wrapped in a tight hug, which was exactly what Anna wanted. She hugged her mentor tightly, releasing some of her stress and tension into the hug. "Thank you," Anna said as she pulled away. She had a question, but she wasn't exactly sure how to ask it yet.

Luckily for her, Madam Macmillan started the question asking by asking how Anna was feeling. She smiled, "So relieved that it's over. And that I didn't do too horribly. I mean," she glanced down to her arms and legs, frowning slightly at how they looked before looking back up and shrugging, "this looks way worse than it feels, I promise." Not that she wasn't going to have to go see a healer soon, but maybe she could delay it a bit. At least until she saw Oscar? Probably not.

Then she couldn't hold her question back anymore. Looking up at her mentor nervously and biting her lips slightly as she wrung her hands, Anna let it out. "How did it look? I mean, what could everyone see? I just ... could you tell everything that happened to us in there?" It wasn't like Anna did too horribly, but she wanted to know what kinds of comments she would be getting from people soon.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

“So relieved that it's over,” Anna answered. “And that I didn't do too horribly. I mean, this looks way worse than it feels, I promise.”

As long as she wasn't in pain, Parvati could look past it. She deserved some rest, though, regardless. “Alright,” she smiled, choosing to take Anna at her word.

“How did it look? I mean, what could everyone see? I just… could you tell everything that happened to us in there?”

Even after she had performed wonderfully, Anna still seemed concerned about how she had looked. If she had done anything to embarrass herself, she would have known already; there had been hundreds of people watching her every move inside that maze. Parvati knew that she would have reacted the same way, if she had been in Anna's shoes.

Before Anna could work herself into a frenzy, Parvati gave her a nod. “We could see everything.” At least, as a judge, she had had a perfectly clear view. From what she could see of the students in the stands, some of the ones who had been higher up had resorted to the use of Omnioculars, so they might have needed to replay the action on occasion.

“I can't believe you got past the Erumpent as quickly as you did,” she commented. Parvati had expected it to be much more of a challenge to her. “Especially after what happened with the Acromantula…” That had been a very close call.

“Most witches and wizards twice your age wouldn't have done that well,” Parvati noted, hoping that her words would serve as encouragement. “I'll admit, Anna, I was really worried. You're so much stronger than you think.”

@annelise

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Anna kept a smile on her face just in case the reporters or photographers were watching, but she let out a low moan. "I was really hoping some of that was just for me, you know?" she confessed hesitantly. Then again, why should she lie to Madam Macmillan? After all, the woman was her mentor and her support during the tournament, so she might as well be honest with her. 

Anna laughed ruefully when Madam Macmillan said that she got past the Erumpent quickly. "I don't know what you're talking about," she argued. "That Erumpent spent at least an hour charging at me." Anna exaggerated on purpose, to make sure Madam Macmillan knew she was exaggerating, but it didn't feel like she moved quickly through any of the trials that the maze presented. Besides that, every time Anna closed her eyes for more than a second, she saw one of the terrors of the maze in front of her: the Erumpent charging at her in slow motion, the feeling of the Acromantula pincers as they wrapped her up, along with the horror that came with realizing she couldn't see anything. Anna shuddered when her mentor mentioned the Acromantula.

In an effort to distract herself from the memories, Anna tried to force her mind to think of something else. The only thing she could think of was the maze. At the moment, her mind was focused on her blindness and she remembered that something happened while she was blind. "Madam Macmillan, what did I run into when I was blind?" Then she smiled, remembering something else. "And could you all see me when I protected myself from whatever-it-was?"

"Thank you Madam Macmillan. Your support means a lot to me." Not that she really had a choice; she'd been assigned to help Anna. Still, that didn't mean Anna appreciated it any less. 

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

“I was really hoping some of that was just for me, you know?”

Anna's admission was clearly meant for Parvati's ears alone, and she was cautious about giving a response. Allowing Anna's public image to be besmirched by one small comment seemed unthinkable, and Parvati gave a clandestine look of acknowledgment. The crowd hadn't been cheering for just the two boys.

“I don't know what you're talking about. That Erumpent spent at least an hour charging at me.”

An hour? Parvati laughed. There was no way that Anna had lost track of time to that extent; she was merely being humble. “That took you no time at all.” An Erumpent wasn't exactly small, nor was it docile, but Anna had handled it without any trouble.

“Madam Macmillan, what did I run into when I was blind?”

“Oh, Merlin…” It took her a moment to remember what had happened at that point. For quite a while, Anna had been able to avoid running into anything at all, which Parvati felt was nothing short of a miracle. The one instance that came to mind was the poisonous gas that she had triggered at one point, although Parvati couldn't say with certainty what it had been, if it had a proper name at all.

“And could you all see me when I protected myself from whatever it was?”

“There was some sort of poison in the air,” Parvati answered to Anna's first question, “and no,” she smiled. Anna must have been proud of herself for that one; she had had the intuition to protect herself from the poison before it had actually reached her. “I wouldn't have expected you to be able to cast a protective enchantment that strong at your age.”

“Anna…” After being thanked for her support, Parvati's expression became less enthusiastic than before, and her voice softened. She had noticed her reaction to her having brought up the Acromantula, and she felt that it needed to be mentioned. With all of the fervor, it would have been easy to shove it aside. “If you need to talk about anything, I'm always here. Now probably isn't the time, with so many people around, but you know where my office is.”

“You've got months before the next task.” That was the bright side: Anna had more than enough time to work through everything that had happened. “Unless you count the Yule Ball,” Parvati grinned. She was joking, of course; it would be an enjoyable night for everyone.

Speaking of… “One more word of advice. Go have fun with your friends tonight,” Parvati urged. “You've earned it.” As long as they didn't completely trash Gryffindor Tower in their revelry or do anything too stupid, there was nothing wrong with it.

@annelise

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Anna smiled, glad when Madam Macmillan started telling her how well she did. Obviously, she could have done better on a few things, like with how she handled the Acromantulas, but she was pretty proud of herself, truth be told. Anna was doing a good job, all things considered. She listened carefully when Madam Macmillan started answering her questions. Poison? Well, it was definitely a good thing she decided to protect herself with the shield charms then. 

She shrugged when her mentor said that she was surprised by the strength of Anna's shield charm and Anna grinned. "I like charms. A lot. And shield charms are fascinating to me. When we started learning them I practiced like crazy and studied a lot of the different forms, trying to master those too. When I was blind and didn't know what was coming at me, I decided to put all of them together, along with a bubble head charm, just to make sure I was safe." Anna's eyes twinkled as she tried to decide whether or not she should press for more information. "Did everyone freak out when I suddenly disappeared from view? And were they all relieved when I dropped the charm and they could see me again?" Out of all the things she'd done, that charm was one of the things Anna was most proud of and she wanted to know what everyone thought of it.

Madam's Macmillan's voice became a little more serious and Anna watched her curiously. Now what? Then she was saying that if Anna needed to talk, she knew where to find Madam Macmillan. Anna nodded seriously. She probably would end up going to the counseling office to talk, but not until it was absolutely necessary. She didn't want to talk through the tournament right now, so she simply nodded to show she understood. 

Anna smiled when the Yule Ball was mentioned. "I'm not worried about that," she lied easily. The truth was that she was still a little nervous she would make a fool out of herself when it came to the dancing, but at the same time she wasn't. Oscar was her partner and she was certain that he would make sure they looked good while dancing. 

"Oh, I will!" Anna answered with a grin when Madam Macmillan told her to have a good time with her friends. She planned on it, but first she wanted to find Oscar. She wanted to know what he thought about the tournament and then she would go find her friends and they would celebrate. Probably for most of the night, too.

parvati patil macmillan